Swedish American Genealogist

Volume 1 | Number 1 Article 3

3-1-1981

Declarations of Rockford Swedes 1859-1870Nils William Olsson

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Recommended CitationOlsson, Nils William (1981) "Declarations of Rockford Swedes 1859-1870," Swedish American Genealogist: Vol. 1 : No. 1 , Article 3.Available at: https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/swensonsag/vol1/iss1/3

Declarations of Intention by Swedes in Rockford

1859-1870 Nils William Olsson

Declarations of intention to become United States citizens and the final naturalization documents are among the best sources for determinging the pres­ence in a given community of early Swedish settlers. Up until the time that the law was changed in 1906, with the establishment of the Immigration and Natur­alization Service under the U.S. Department of Justice, which then took over the sole function of the naturalization of foreign subjects, any foreigner in the United States had been able to secure his or her naturalization in almost any court of justice, ranging from the U.S. District courts to the police courts of individual cities and towns.

Any foreigner coming to the United States could become a citizen of this country, after having resided here a minimum of five years, renouncing his loyalty to the sovereign of the country of his birth, and after having taken out the "first paper" or the declaration of intention, which could be done a year after arrival.

For immigrants who were naturalized before 1906, therefore, the naturaliza­tion records as well as the declarations of intention may be found in almost every court in the United States, except where the records have been transferred to central archival institutions or have been lost through fire, neglect or because of the upheavals wrought by the Civil War.

The information contained in these records will vary from court to court. If the searcher is fortunate, he might find such valuable genealogical data as the birth date of the applicant, his city or province of birth, the time of his arrival in the United States, the port of arrival and in some rare instances even the name of the vessel which brought him to this country. At the other end of the spectrum one will usually only get the name of the applicant, his date of declaration or naturalization as well as the name of the court, and perhaps the names of the witnesses who aided in the naturalization process.

The city of Rockford, located in Winnebago County, Illinois, is one of the most Swedish communities in the United States and one ca.n expect to find here a great deal of information concerning early declarations and naturalizations. In checking the early records in the well organized and pleasant surroundings of the modern court house the writer came across three early volumes which have been

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Swedish American Genealogist

helpful in pinpointing the presence of early Swedish settlers in Winnebago Coun­ty .

The first volume which stems from the earliest period , before the heavy flow of Swedish immigrants descended upon the city, contains relatively few Scan­dinavian names. Unfortunately the first volume carries no signum. Its spine is missing, but internal evidence shows that it contains naturalizations for Winne­bago County, extending from Oct. 13 , I 851 to Oct. 2, I 858. The information contained in this volume is quite sparse - usually only the names , the national­ity , the date of naturalization and the names of the two witnesses who appeared at the ceremonies. Only fourteen names are Swedish or Norwegian, the difficulty being that inasmuch as Norway and Sweden were united under a dual monarchy during most of the 19th Century under a Swedish sovereign , it is sometimes difficult to determine whether the applicant was Norwegian or Swedish. An analysis of the names, however, shows that the greater part of the fourteen names listed must be Norwegian. The names of those naturalized between 1852 and 1858 are listed here with the date of naturalization:

Date April 26 , 1852 Sept. 27 , 1852

II II 11

II 11 II

May 3, 1853 ,, ,, ,, If II II

April 27, 1854 March 7, 1857 Feb . 27 , 1858 Sept. 27 , 1858 Sept. 30, 1858

Name Christopher Kittleson Gunald Halwerson Aslack 11

Hallowell Anderson John Christensen Thore Torgersen Mogens Swennungson Lars Johan Suckow Lars Nielson Johns Pederson Augustus Johnson John Olson John Nelson

Witnesses William Randall and David Wood

II 11 L. V. Cleveland ,, ,, II ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

G. W. Elliott and William Morris "

11 " John R. Henning

" " " William Morris William Morris and John R. Henning

S. R. Franklin and Augustus Johnson John Peterson and John Fraley Peter Johnson and Peter Peterson A. Johnson and C. J. Carlson

The next volume carries the signum A and is titled Final Naturalization Record. It runs from 1860 to 1890. For some reason, unfortunately, there is a lacuna between 1860 and 1877. Certainly there must have been naturalizations during these seventeen years, even though the Civil War years intervened. What happened is difficult to ascertain. Perhaps this volume after the year of 1860 was misplaced , and~ nother volume, now not extant was used , which carried up to 1877, when this volume again came into use. There are only five names recorded during 1860. Since this study is limited to Swedes in Rockford before 1870, no names from 1877 on have been included . The five names from 1860 are as follows and all are undoubtedly Swedish:

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Date Sept. 3, 1860 Sept. 7, 1860

Name Charles Anderson John Svenson Smith

Sept. 10, 1860 Isaac Lundgren 11 Joseph Hogland

Sept. 14, 1860 Magnus Forsburg

Declarations of Intention by Swedes in Rockford

Witnesses John Telander and Peter Hokenson Augustus Johnson and Charles J .

Charleson James Albert and Augustus Johnson

II II

Andrew Andreen and John Anderson

The third volume and by far the most voluminous is a record of Declarations

of Intention and runs from February 1, 1859 to December 7, 1888. The informa­tion contained in these declarations is quite sparse indeed, being concentrated to the name of the applicant, his or her nationality and the date the declaration was filed. Since the declaration could be filed at any time after the first year after the arrival in the United States, there is no way of determining from the declaration

· how long the applicant had resided in this country. Again, as for the other volumes, the applicant's foreign allegiance is given as the Kingdom of Sweden and Norway. This means that we cannot be quite sure if the applicant is Norwe­gian or Swedish. Therefore all of them have been listed , except in two or three instances, where he has indicated that he is a subject of Norway solely and where his name obviously has a Norwegian ring to it.

One important fact concerning these declarations should be emphasized. They have all been signed by the applicant, except in such cases where he was illiterate and the clerk of court wrote his name , but asked the applicant to indicate by his mark (x) that he was indeed the individual making the declaration. Where the applicant actually signed his name, we are able to witness how he originally spelled his name and how it was used in Sweden, before he had succumbed to the custom used by so many of his fellow immigrants , either anglicizing his name or dropping the patronymic in favor of a taken family name.

At times the applicant used only his initials, but the clerk has often supplied the first or Christian name. In such instances the first name is to be found within parentheses. Parentheses have also been used to indicate instances where the applicant inadvertently dropped letters as he signed his name.

In the autumn of 1930, Herman G. Nelson , popular Rockford journalist , wrote a series of articles on the early Swedes in Rockford for the Rockford

Morning Star, highlighting their achievements in industry, civic affairs, politics, church life as well as their very active involvement in the Civil War. Many of those listed in the declarations below can be found in Mr. Nelson's highly interesting narratives.

The following Swedes (and perhaps a few Norwegians) declared their inten­tion of becoming United States citizens in the County Court of Winnebago , Rockford , Illinois from 1859 to 1870:

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Swedish American Genealogist

Date

1859

Name

Feb. 11 - Gustaf Andersson Feb. 21 - Magnus P. Lindahl March 8 - Peter J. Hen berg March 19 - Johannes Abrahamsson April 27 - Christopher Hansen; Andreas Hansen Aug. 8- Isaac Linquist Sept. 19 - Ephraim Andersson Oct. 19 - C. Christopher Lunde

1860 Feb. 17 - Anton Hendrickson (x) , his mark; Ole Larson (x) , his mark Feb. 23 - Peter Benson (x), his mark Feb. 24 - Christopher Kittleson March 17 - Peter Lindahl March 20 - Abraham Johnson April 5 - Jerome Patterson April 7 - Ole Pettersson; Petter Hakansson April 10 - Gustaf Pettersson May 31 - Micha(e)l Olson June 18 - Olaus Pettersson Aug. 7 - Nyquist Johansson Sept. 26 - Andrew Peterson (x), his mark; Seaver Anderson (x), his mark Oct. 17 - Frank Anderson Nov. 20 - Andro Androson Dec. 1 - Nels Olson (x), his mark Dec. 29 - Christopher Heide

1861 Feb. 10 - Knud Swenningson Feb. 24 - Carl Fredrick Gustafson March 15 - Charles Anderson (x), his mark April 2 - Louis Svenson Aug. 2 - Ole Christian (x), his mark; Johan Hansen Aug. 4 - Alexander Anderson

1864 ,

Nov. 23 - Carl Johan Andersson

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Declarations of Intention by Swedes in Rockford

Date

1865

Name

June 24 - Ole Andreas Tallakson July 10 - Janne Olstrum; Johanna Clifford Sept. 30 - Andrew Borg (x), his mark Nov. 22 - John Goransson Dec. 13 - Frank Enoch

1866

Jan. 10 - Anders Qvist; Andrew Floberg; Johan Johnson Jan. 15 - Jonas Johnson Jan. 16 - Swen Welin; Jacob Welin; Charles I. Welen (Welin?); Elias Magnus

Nilson Feb. 27 - Charles John Nelson March 20 - Lars Molander (x), his mark; Andrew Floberg (x) , his mark Aug. 22 - Andro G. Edberg Sept. 26 - A. Engelbrektson Oct. 10 - Gustavus Peters Oct. 20 - Swan L. G. Johnson; Andreas Snail Dec. 7 - Jonas Pettersson Dec. 15 - Adolf Colsen (x), his mark Dec. 18 - Swen Peterson (x) , his mark; Andrew Adamson (x), his mark

1867

Feb. 5 - A. (Andrew) Holmquist Feb. 20 - Carl Gustaf Peterson March 4 - F. Lundquist; S. R. Anderson; Jon Petter Berglund June 19 - Andrew A. Anderson Oct. 23 - John Lind (x), his mark Nov. 9 - L. (Lars) Noting

1868

March 7 - Otto Petersson; Charly F. Hultstrom March 9 - J . A. Pettersson; Anders Holm; Joh. Jaldman; Gustaf Carlsson March 10- Johan Stenstrom; Andrew G. Friborg; Sven Flygare; Johan August

Danjelsson March 11 - Petter Johansson; Gustaf Floborg; Johan Gren March 12 - S. J. Pettersson; Gustaf Melin; John Lend (Lind?); Bengt Nilsson;

Endro (Andrew?) Isackson March 25 - Andrew Leonard Dahlgren; Johan Allgoth Danielsson ; Johan Au­

gust Jonsson; Johan Fabian Nordstr(o)hm; Charle(s) Huldt; Frank Adrian Soderstrom; Gustave Peter Johnson; C. M. Lundberg; Jonas Peter Johns­son; John Henry Beckman; Augustus Kling

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Swedish American Genealogist

Date Name

March 30 - Gustaf Alfred Hellberg March 31 - P. A. Wennerstrom April 3 - Claes Johanson April 4 - Andrew Linberg (x), his mark April 14 - Andrew Kellgren April 16 - Gustaf Sanden June 19 - John A. Kling Aug. 1 - Jons Nilsson Aug. 8 - Andrew Carlsson; Andreas Linder Aug. 15 - August Bredberg Aug. 28 - Charly Theo. Anderson Sept. 8 - A. P. Edstrom; A. Stromberg Sept. 17 - Gustaf Alfred Boman Sept. 19 - Knut Mauritz Ohman Sept. 29 - Charles Soderberg; Charles John Liljequist Sept. 30 - Fredrick Anderson; Frank 0. Linden; Isac August Peterson Oct. 2 - Charles A. Anderson; A. (Adolphus) Bowman; Nils T. Thompson;

Andreas Bergsten Oct. 3 - Francis B. Mattson; Hans Melander; August Lindstedt; John Lunden;

Jan P. Sjogren; Peter Hagglund; Olaf Johanson; John C. Brolin; Charles Oscar Bowman

Oct. 5 - Johan(n)es Aval(l); Johannes F. Benson ; John Benson; Axel Johnson ; August Kjellgren; Charley Edvard Borg; L. P. Linstrom; A. P. Bergstedt; Johan(n)es A. Halander

Oct. 6 - Per Andersson; Cha(r)le(s) Booman; Melcker Frank; Lars Rothsten; August Bergman; Isak Peter Lindbeck; John Challgren

Oct. 7 - 0. (Olaf) Rose; Gustaf Janson ; C. (Charles) Moberg; Ferdinand Boman; Johan August Grans ; Johan Skold; Peter Settergren; Anders Bred; Johan August Nilsson; Lars Fihn; Johan Petter Larson; Gustaf Hagg(q)vist; Gustaf Petterson; Swan Adamson; Gustaf Forsall; G. W. Wasterstrom; Jan Larsson; Gustaf Samuelson; Anen Jansson; Jon Peter Swanson ; Charles H . Johnson; Frans Os(c)ar Runnqvist; Johan August Petersson; C. A. Isacsson ; John P. Ny; Johannes Gabrielsson

Oct. 8 - August Wallentinsson; A. (Andrew) Svensson; Isak Danielson; P. (Peter) G. Johanson; L. G. Andersson; Sven August Fagerqwist; Johan Andersson;J--ars Wallentinsson; Carl Otto Lundgren; N . G. Stockenburg; N. P. Nygren; Carl Jonsson ; Cha(r)les Englund; Anders Stenstrom

Oct. 9 - A. (August) Nygren ; A. (August) Sjoblom; Charles Paterton; Peter Larson; P. (Peter) G. (Gus) Bowman; Adolf Carlsson; A. (Anders) N. Nor­ling; John Noling; Anders Kjellberg; Lewis (Lars) Westergren; P. (Peter) M. Melander

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Declarations of Intention by Swedes in Rockford

Date Name

Oct. IO - Charle(s) Jasperson ; Sam. Johnson Kjellgren ; Johan Olson; A. G. Andersson; Samuel Johnson ; P. J. Holmqvist

Oct. 12 - Charles Wallin; Andrew P. Anderson Oct. 16 - Gustavus A. Wallin; C. (Charles) A. Rost; Joh. Hallberg; Joh. H.

Hollem; Johan Petersson; A. M. Petersson; Johan Erik Hultqvist; S. (Swan) A. Borg; N . (Nielson) J. (John) Kal(l)strom; Peter E . Ericson; Adolf Fred­rick Rabbe

Oct. 17 - Abraham Isakson Langen; John Benson ; F . (Frederick) Pohl Oct. 21 - Christoffer Gustafsson ; Carl Sward Oct. 26 - Andrew Anderson (x) , his mark Oct. 27 - C. (Charles) Svensson Oct. 28 - Per Svensson Oct. 29 - Olaf Pontus Risberg; Johan Bernhard Ericson Oct. 31 - John Lidell; Eric Olsson; Anders Sjogren Nov. 2 - L. (Lars) P. (Peter) Svanson; 0. (Ole) Larsson; John Sandin; Efraim

Sandin Dec. 14 - Ole Fredrickson (x) , his mark Dec. 26 - John Johnson

1869

Feb. 1 - Anders (Andrew) Olsson Feb . 9 - Perry A. Oberg; Johan Skooglund Feb . 16 - Sven Daniel Andersson Feb. 23 - Jonas Andersson; Nils F. Lindquist Feb. 27 - Hans Bengtson; Anders Torkelsson; Joseph Adamsson March 1 - H. F. Lundgren March 15 - Carl Nordstrom ; Jonas Petter Kallqvist; August Lind ; S. A. Johns­

son; Gust A. Jonsson March 25 - Jan Smedstrom; Pher Fredin March 27 -Anders Wilhelm Johansson ; Carl August Johansson; Gustaf Johans­

son (x) , his mark; August Malmberg; Oscar Malmbarj (Malmberg) ; August Samuelsson; Anders Svensson (x), his mark; Carl Alfrid Johansson

March 29 - Peter Johan Olson (x), his mark March 30 - Peter Wanstrom; S. P. Wennerstrom; Johannes Svensson; Svante

Moberg; Anders Ekzaell; Andrew Svanstrom; Gustaf Berlof; Johan Fred­rick Setterlund; Johan Emanuel Nilsson (x), his mark; Frans Falk; Johan August Beckman

May 4 - Johan Pehrsson May 12 - John Buckland (x) , his mark ; John Sundgren (x) , his mark May 22 - Johan Elim; Ferdinand Allmen ; Johan Allmen ; August Appelgren

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Swedish American Genealogist

Date Name

May 24 - C(h)arles Roos; Hans Ljungberg ; Jan Petter Stenstrom; Petter Johansson

May 25 - F. W. Jonson; A. F. Jonson (x), his mark May 26 - Johan P. Soderquist; C. A. Ostrom (x), his mark; C. W. Carlsson May 31 - Charle(s) G. Y deren June 5 - Olaus Andersson June 17 - John Carlsson (x), his mark; Fred Carlsson (x), his mark June 23 - John Westergren (x), his mark June 28 - Johan Svanbom; Gustaf Edlin; Gustaf Gislen; Johan Kjellgren June 12 - Carl Johan Soderqwist; Anders G. Frid (x) , his mark ; Anders Nyberg Aug. 14 - John A. Hultquist; Gustaf A. Hultquist; John P. Hult; Gustaf Lungn;

John W. Johnson ; John Gaust Aug. 21 - Anton Anderson Sept. 28 - Johan Kling Oct. 9 - Ole C. Johanson Oct. 12 - Carl Andersson Oct. 14 - Johan Andersson (x) , his mark; J. P. Stockhus Nov. 23 - Carl Andersson Nov . 25 - Lars Stenstrom Dec. IO - Lars Johan Seger Dec . 13 - P. L. Norlund; Jonas Larsson Dec. 20 - Ola Rossenlund (sic!)

1870

Jan. 3 - Frid Walus ; John Bruszer; A. W. Sander; Anders Johnsson Feb. 4 - J. 0. Lundvall; Charles A. Lundvall Feb. 7 - Alexander Sanberg; C. A. Stockhus Feb. 8 - Hagen Andersoon March 2 - J. Johansson; Johan Lind; Alexander Lind March 9 - Joel Kling April 11 - Charles John Rosenquist ; Gustaf A. Johnson June 13 - Frans L. Carlsson ; Claes A. Carlsson ; Gustaf F . Carlsson June 20 - Carl Gustaf Johansson Oct. 17 - John J. Bucklund Oct. 22 - Charles Barquest (x), his mark Nov . 9 - G. Fj,>dell Nov . 29 - G. J . Jonsson Dec. 10 - A. G. Savfgren Dec. 31 - Isak P. Forsberg; John Johnsson

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